After agreeing on these matters, Jian Chen entrusted the gold and silver coins he carried with him to the Dutch, and asked a merchant to exchange them for guilders. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

At this time, the Bank of Amsterdam had not yet been established, and the exchange business had to go to reputable Jewish merchants.

Lin Xi went to visit a few well-known naturalists in Amsterdam, while the rest of the people who studied palace agriculture went to see the Holstein cattle that Jian Chen talked about, or visited the Dutch farmland to observe turnips, carrots, Flanders horses and the like.

The rest of the artisans visit Amsterdam's architecture, art and shipyards.

Several astronomers tried to find mathematicians in Amsterdam to discuss some problems.

Chen Jian also provided a sum of money, mainly to see if the bookseller had a table of trigonometric functions calculated by Letticus and the students, which was a very important book, which took two generations of mathematicians countless painstaking efforts to calculate every tenth of the sine, tangent, secant and three redundant, which can be used as a reference to each other and the domestic one.

Ranchi tried to communicate with Grotius, who was not prejudiced because he was wearing the robes granted by the council for smallpox, and because the two Spanish governors before the Netherlands were both women.

Jian Chen fanned the flames on the sidelines, and after a while, he talked about the legal issues that had gradually formed in Gelasius's mind from the issue of the papal meridian. After all, he was born in law, less than twenty doctors of law, and this kind of exchange Grotius also liked.

International law itself is a strange thing, and if the meridian drawn by the Pope is followed, the actions of the Netherlands are complete piracy. The Pacific Ocean belonged to Portugal, and the Dutch were involved, so it was naturally an illegal invasion in terms of "international law" at the time.

This in itself involves the philosophy of the Enlightenment, which is somewhat similar to the ideas of some rebellions in the Republic, and the discussion unconsciously delves into some fundamental "bandit logic", and the views between the two sides have changed from mutual agreement at the beginning to mutual rebuke.

"Beautiful lady, Mr. Governor. Whether you believe in God or not, at least there is one thing we all share. Man is a virtuous animal, but the pursuit of truth and wisdom is a unique talent of human beings. This pursuit of truth or reason, which is right and natural, should be applicable to all. ”

"What is suitable for all cannot be said to be applicable in the Netherlands, it is wrong in Spain, even in your republic."

Even if we assume that the impossible, that is, that you think that God does not exist, or that God does not care about the affairs of the world, some things still retain their objective validity. God will not allow two times two not to equal four, nor will God allow what is evil in nature to be good in nature. ”

Based on this, this natural law is a law that is higher than the will and is determined by man. And sailing and trading on the seas is based on the natural rights of man. I think that neither your republic, nor our Netherlands, nor Spain, should respect this natural, seafaring trade and navigational right. ”

Lan Qi was deeply bewitched by Chen Jian, and there were inevitably some young people's unique struggles and mockery in her heart for some things, and after understanding what Grotius said, she asked with a smile: "Mr. Grotius, what you said about the natural rights of man, but as far as I know, you do not prohibit the slave trade, and you also support the punishment of prisoners of war as slaves. How is this ground deduced from natural law? ”

"Ma'am, since a man can sell his labor, he can certainly sell his freedom. Moreover, slaves and prisoners of war were derived not from natural law, but from international law, in which the sovereignty of States was exercised. When people choose to enter into a contract with the monarch and solidify into a state, then the sovereignty of the state is above all else, and of course above natural law. Slaves, prisoners of war, freedom of navigation, all of these are based on the concept of national sovereignty. ”

Lan Qi smiled and asked, "I support your view of free navigation and trade, but the law of free navigation and trade you mentioned is the law of man?" Or is it natural law? On what basis is this law carried out? ”

Of course, it is the law of man, which is determined by the will of God. And the parties to the implementation are the sovereignty of the state that is beyond the law of nature. So your previous question is not difficult to explain, prisoners of war and slaves, this is based on human international law, not natural law. ”

Lan Qi shook her head and said, "But you just finished saying that freedom of navigation is a natural law. In other words, do you think that natural law constitutes sovereignty, and sovereignty constitutes international law, and international law is the law of man and the law of your will, right? ”

"Yes."

"But what you call freedom of navigation, international law, such as trade, is derived from natural law. When it came to the slave trade, it immediately became a human law again. There is no logical self-consistency. In our opinion, everything you are pursuing is nothing more than a defense of your own interests, completely beyond the bounds of logic. ”

Grotius was a little annoyed by such accusations, but he still exercised restraint in front of the lady.

Lance said bluntly: "Monsieur Grotius, with regard to the Spanish and Portuguese monopolies, you justify freedom of navigation and trade from the point of view of the interests of the Netherlands, on the basis of the supremacy of natural law and the supremacy of man-made law. But why is it that natural law is meaningless at this time when you defend the slave trade in which the Netherlands were involved, and you use the law of man to defend it? ”

"Secondly, since you speak of sovereignty above natural law. If, then, navigation and trade were derived from natural law, should a sovereign state, which is itself superior to natural law, have the right to refuse such trade? ”

"Moreover, international law, which is based on natural law, is just and correct only in content, but who will guarantee the implementation of the law? Law is promulgated by a sovereign state, so does international law mean that the state cedes part of its sovereignty to this international law that overrides sovereignty? ”

"So it's still a benefit after all, right?"

The tense question made Grotius react for a moment, and replied: "The purpose of a country's laws is to seek the interests of a country, so there must be laws between countries, and what they seek is not the interests of any country, but the common interests of all countries. ”

"I still stand by my opinion. Sovereignty rests with the monarch and is a contract between man and the monarch. A sovereign monarch has the right not to be governed by the will or law of others. The individual in international law is sovereign, not the individual. If this is the case, then the prisoners of war captured by this country can be used as slaves in the interests of the state, and are not governed by natural law, because sovereignty is not governed by law. ”

Lan Qi also smiled: "According to this point of view, Spain's monopoly of freedom of navigation at sea with its own interests is also based on the interests of its own country, so what is the basis for the freedom of navigation that you oppose in Spain and Portugal?" and whatever is not good to you, it is natural law; And what is good for you will be the law of men. I respect your idea of international law, but in internal logic I would like you to give a more self-consistent statement. ”

Seeing that the two were about to continue arguing, Jian Chen interrupted what Lan Qi was about to say with a light cough and said, "Mr. Grotius, for the time being, your international law based on natural law is just and reasonable. However, in terms of form and effectiveness, it is difficult to practice. ”

"The Republic is willing to contribute to the establishment and revision of national laws, and can sign treaties of international law and be the first initiators."

"However, the validity of international law should be the consent and common will of States. A rule can become national law only with the consent of each State, which needs to be the basis for validity and practice. ”

"We recognize the natural rights of human beings. Therefore, if the law of nature is to be the basis of international law, it is first necessary to ensure the existence of a sovereign State and the sovereignty of the people that this sovereign State has concluded with the right of nature. ”

"The first step in international law is anti-oppression, anti-rational, but also anti-feudal privilege, freedom. Only by doing this can nations jointly accept and agree to international law based on natural law, otherwise, if sovereign individuals do not recognize the natural rights of man, how can they condense sovereignty that overrides individuals and recognizes natural rights? ”

"Only a State concluded by sovereignty concluded by the natural rights of man has international law based on natural law."

"Therefore, for me personally and not on behalf of my country, I support you in your war for independence and freedom against Spain. This is a perfect fit with the system of international law that you envision. ”

"The people of our republic must be in favor of international law, which is based on natural law. By supporting the idea of international law based on natural law and morality, the people of our republic are supportive of any war for independence and freedom against oppression, against feudal privileges, against decaying churches and dynasties. ”

"Personally, alone, does not represent the republic. Out of respect for Mr. Grotius and for the international law that you have conceived, I believe that, if you want to realize the international law you envisioned, you should first of all support the Dutch people's war of independence, the independence of the Irish people, the independence of the Scottish people, the independence of the Bohassian people and the freedom of worship, the independence of Portugal, and the independence and freedom of belief of the States of the Holy Roman Empire. ”

"All this is the basis of international law based on the natural law that you conceived. Excuse me, can you do that? This includes supporting religious freedom in the Netherlands, at the cost of human lives. Including the freedom of Judaism, Arminians, Presbyterians, etc., and each sect can establish a state after having an independent will. ”

Hearing this, Grotius was silent for a long time and said, "Mr. Governor, this is diplomacy and politics, and it is not something I can control. My inner support and opposition will not lead to anything. Moreover, I cannot accept the division of the Netherlands. ”

"What about slaves?"

"I still stick to my original point of view."

Chen Jian said with a smile: "From this point of view, the formulation of international law is a long process. An independent, sovereign state is required to occupy the majority. So, until then, we can do something that is acceptable to us morally and morally. ”